Safety-block for railway-tracks.



1105861395. PATENTED JU/LY30,1907.

- L. P. LEARMAN.

SAFETY BLQGK FOR RAILWAY TRACKS. urnmluxon IILED MAR.16,-1907.

3 BHEETS-SHEET 1.

7 PATENT EDJULY 30, 1907. L. F. LBARMAN. SAFETY BLOCK FOR RAILWAYTRACKS.

APPLIOA'IIOF FILED 1m. 16, 1-907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

rus mmms PETERS 50.. WASHINGTON, nv c.

No. 861,295. PATENTED JULY 30, 1907.

' L. F. LEARMAN.

SAFETY BLOCK FOR RAILWAY .TRAGKS. APPLICATION FILED MAI-1.16, 1907.

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UNITED STATES LOUIS F. LEARMAN, OF ST. PAUL,

PATENT FIQE.

OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

SAFETY-BLOCK FOR RAILWAY-TRACKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30,1907.

Application filed March 16,1907. Serial No. 362,678.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Louis F. LEARMAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Blocks forRailway-Tracks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in safety blocks for railwaytracks, its object being to provide an improved device to be arranged inconnection with the railway track at track crossings, frogs, switchesand guard rails, for keeping the feet of pedestrians or animals frombeing caught in the track.

To that end the invention consists in the features of constructionhereinafter particularly described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, Figure1 is a plan view of crossing tracks fitted with the invention; Fig. 2 isa plan view of one of the rails at a street crossing embodying amodified form of the invention; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the inventionfor use in connection with a railway frog; Fig. 1 is a section on lineEI2 of Fig. 3', Fig. 5 is a detail view of one end of the device shownin Fig. 3, with the end wall partly broken away; Fig. 6 is an end viewof the device shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is a transverse section throughthe device shown in Fig. 3 and an adjacent rail; Fig. 8 is a side viewof the modified form of construction shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 9 is asection on line yy of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a view of the invention appliedto a guard rail; Fig. 11 is a cross section of the two-part constructionshown in Fig. 1; Fig. 12 is a detail view showing in perspective amodified hinge construction having a single leaf; and Fig. 13 is asimilar view of the same form of hinge applied to a two-partconstruction.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings is shown a railway frog A of the usualconstruction in connection with track crossingsB. The improved safetyblock, as used at the track crossings, comprises a box or casing 2arranged adjacent to the inner side of one of the rails. It is providedwith a cover 3 having along one edge hinge supports 4 upon the side wallof the casing away from the rail on the inner side of which it isarranged. The opposite edge of the cover is free and parallel with therail. Detachably secured to one of the end walls of the casing by meansof the bolt 6 is a clip or stop 5 which extends upwardly and over theadjacent edge of the cover. The cover is held in upsprung positionagainst the stop by means of springs 7 interposed between the cover andthe bottom of the casing. Thus the cover will be held normally forced upa slight distance above the walls of the casing. The ends 8 of the freeedge of the cover and the adjacent ends of the end-walls (here l shownupright) are downwardly curved in order to avoid a side blow from theflange of the car wheel.

When used at track crossings the casing may be secured in the anglebetween the rails by means of bolts 9 passing through the hinge wall ofthe casing and the rail 10 adjacent thereto, as shown in Fig. 7, thecasing being supported from the rail by abracket 11. The casing is sopositioned that the free edge of its cover will stand along the innerside of the rail.

For use with a frog, where the inner sides of both rails constitute theinner sides of two tracks, a double casing construction such as is shownin Figs. 1 and 11 may be used, the middle wall 12 common to both casingsconstituting the side wall of each. To this wall are hinged a pair ofcovers 13.

The modified construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9 is designed for use inconnection with a street crossing or a guard rail. It comprises aplurality of covered sections 14, each section of cover being formed atone end with an upwardly offset lip to overlap the adjacent end of thenext cover section. All of the cover sections are held against theupward pressure of the springs by means of a clip or stop 16 carried bythe end wall of the first section and extending up and over the adjacentend of the cover as in case of the clip 5 already described. Uponremoving the clip all the interlocked cover sections can be lifted topermit access to the interior of the casing.

In Figs. 12 and 13 is shown a modified form of hinge, comprising lips 17carried by the hinge edge of the cover and adapted to fit into holes 18in the adjacent side wall of the casing. The lips 17 and holes 18 thusconstitute a detachable hinge connection.

In use the cover of each casing will stand normally as shown in Figs. 6and 4 and form a platform for the feet of pedestrians or animals,preventing them from going down and being accidentally caught betweenthe rails or the rails and crossings. When a car passes over the safetyblock the free edge of the cover adjacent to the rail will yield to theflange of the wheel, and as soon as the wheel has passed the cover willspring back into its normal position against the stop. It will beobserved that the cover overlaps the endwall or walls of the casing sothat walls form a stop to prevent the cover from settling down, in casethe springs are broken, or displaced, or lose their resiliency, so faras to entrap the feet or permit the entrance of dirt into the casing.

I claim as my invention,

1. The combination, with a railway track, of a box, a hinged covertherefor, means supporting the hinge end of the box from one of therails, and means normally holding the free end of the cover a slightdistance above the end walls of the box.

2. The combination, with a railway track, of a casing arranged adjacentto one of the rails, and a cover hinged at one edge to the side of thecasing away from the rail and having its opposite edge free and parallelwith the rail.

3. The combination, with a railway track, of a casing arranged adjacentto one of the rails, a cover hinged at one edge to the side of thecasing away from the rail and having" its opposite edge free andparallel with said rail, and spring means holding the free edge of thecover normally raised a slight distance above the walls of the casing.

4. The combination, with a railway track, of a safety device arranged inconnection therewith comprising a casing, a hinged cover for the casing,means supporting said device withthe free edge of the cover standingparallel LOUIS F. LEARMAN. Witnesses:

ARTHUR P. LOTHROP, HAT'riE SMITH.

